Odenwald

Last weekend we spent Saturday driving through the Odenwald, stopping at places that seemed interesting. All the places we stopped were within an hour or so of Heidelberg. The Fall colors were past their peak but were still very beautiful.

Our first stop was Mittelburg, another castle Jeff drives by every day to and from work. It is near Hinterburg. We were not able to go in this castle. There was lots of renovation going on. It looked like it was being renovated for use as a hotel, apartments or a youth hostel.

Our next stop was Hirschorn, the Pearl of the Neckar. Hirschorn is a picturesque little town east of Heidelberg. It sits on the Neckar River and is full of beautiful old buildings and has a wonderful castle overlooking the city and the river.




















































See the kids peeking out of the tower?

















Joseph is always my actor!






Our next stop was Airlenbach. It was a really quick stop to see this 1000- year old "fat oak". It looked 1000 years old and had certainly seen better days but it was fun to imagine all the history this tree has witnessed.



















Our next stop was for Jeff - Mossautal and the Schmucker Brewery and Restaurant. We were hoping for a tour but we needed to call ahead and we hadn't. So, we settled for a wonderful meal at the Schmucker Restaurant! It was excellent!



























Our next stop was Michelstadt. This is the town hall from 1484. It is one of Germany's oldest oak buildings.

We stopped, next, in Steinbach, not far from Michelstadt, at the Einhardsbasilika...







and Schloss Furstenau.

Now, if I was really mean I would insert the picture of Ellen that we took in the car as we drove to our next stop. You see, Ellen stayed out way too late the night before this little adventure - salsa dancing! She was sawing logs big time - with her mouth wide open :) ! We got a great picture but she would kill me if I put it in the blog :) ! I'm sure you can use your imagination...








Our last stop was Breuberg Castle near Hochst. It was built in the 12th century.










There were sheep around the outside of the castle, inside of the outer walls. For a moment we thought we were really in the Middle Ages!

This particular castle is a youth hostel, so for only 20-30 euros per night, when you are traveling through Europe, you can stay in a castle - and that includes a meal - not bad!



















































A fun day but it was time to get kids to bed!